Air-valve.



F. H. TWEED.

AIR VALVE.

Y APPLICATION FILED AUG.23 1909- 1,1 92,02 Patented July 25, 1916.

' ,LUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' rnnnnnrcx n. TWEED, or CHICAGO, r LnvoIs.

AIR-VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patenfed J l 25, 1916.

Application filed August 23,- 1909. Serial No: 514,086.

To all. :whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, Fnnonnrorr H. Twnno,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of; Illino1s, have invented a certain new and.

' The invention .isillustrated in the accom-. panymg drawing, Where1n-'Figure 1 is a view illustrating oneformof valve embodying the invention;Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the valve shown in Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is an enlarged sec: tional view of the controllable vent.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several figures.

As shown in the drawing, the air valve is provided with a casing 1,having a screw threaded projection 1 by means of which it is fastened tothe radiator or other device in connection with which it is used, andcontains a receptacle divided into two parts 2 and 3, separated by apartition 4.- This receptacle is preferably movably mounted in thecasing, and is supported at the bottom in any desired manner, as bymeans ofthe support 5. The ends of the receptacle arev Tlie portion 2 ofthe receptacle contains a gas, such, for example, as airlmder pressure,while the portion 3' contains an expansible liquid of any suitable kind;The part 3 of the receptacle is preferably located above the line offlotation of. the re- .ceptacle. 'The upper end6 of the receptacle isprovided with a valve part 7 adapted to control an escape passageway 8leading from U present valve there is provided means ,for, overcomingthis difiiculty, so that the valve can be easily and quickly relieved ofwater. The casing '1 is provided with a controllable air passage bymeans of which air can be let into or out of the casing above thewaterso as to change the relative pressure above and below the water,and permit it to flow out under the influence of gravity. As herein andthis valve may be opened by hand shown this vent or relieving deviceconsists of a tube 10, projecting from the casing and provided with anopening 11.. This opening is controlled by a valve or controllable part12 connected with the stem 13. The valve 12 isforced' against its seatso as to close the opening. 11 by means of a spring or equivalent.devlce. 14,'which, in the construction shown in the drawing,engage'sthe part 15 andenlargement 16 on the end of the stem.

The part-151s provided with one or more openings'which are out ofalinement with which may be forced through the opening 11 will strikethe part 15 and will not pass out of the opening or openings therein..The part 15 is also placed below the upper end of the tube 10, s0 thatif any water should pass through'the openings in the part 15, it willnot flow out on the floor, but will be caught. If for examplesomeone'should hold the valve open until the space below the part 15fills with water and the water begins to flow out of the opening in thepart 15, this will be noted and the valve can" be released so as to stopany further flow and before the water flows on to the carpet or floor.The parts are arranged so that when the enlargement ,16 is pressed thestem 13 will be moved so as to move the valve 12 to uncover the opening11.. When the enlargement 16 is released the spring moves the parts backso asto close the opening 11. The strength of the spring may be adjustedso as to cause the valve 12' to open at any desired pressure, orautomatically when the pressure within the casing falls below apredetermined point.

The use and operation of my'invention are as follows: The air valveherein'shown is particularly adapted to be used in connection with steamradiators. When the steam is turned on to the radiator the air in theradiator is forced out through the casing 1 and the escape passageway 8.After the air has escaped the steam enters the casing 1 and strikes thepart 2 of the receptacle,'hea-ting the expansible gas therein andcausing the lower end to be pressed outwardly, thus lifting thereceptacle so as to bring the valve part 7 toward its seat. Thissteamalso heats cep'tacle,-which expands and moves the end theexpansible'liqujd in the part 3 of the re-Q ,-6 of the receptacleupwardly so as .to force condition.

the valve part 7 against its seat and prevent the escape of the steamthrough the escape passageway 8. If, for example, water. is.

forced into the casing 1, the receptacle will be caused to float whenthe water reaches a certain level, and the valve part 7 seated so as toprevent the water from flowing out through the escape passageway 8. Whenwater enters the casing it is liable to stay therein, because of thecomparatively small cross sectional area of, the water and the fact thatthe pressure above the water is less than the pressure in the radiator.Under these conditions the valve becomes water bound and inoper'ative.If, now, the valve 12 is moved by pressing the enlargement 16, thepressure is equalized so that the water will flow back into theradiatorand the valve again becomes operative.

It will thus be seen that anyone in the apartment in which the'radiatoris contained can easily and quickly manipulate the valve so as to permitthe water to escape and the valve-can thus be easily kept in anoperative It Will further be seen that as soon as the stem 13 isreleased the valve 12 will automatically move to its closed position,and that therefore this relief device may be operated at any and alltimes with-' out injury to the valve, and without displacing any of theparts so as to cause it towork lmproperly. I P

It will be noted that since the receptacle in the valve which consistsof the parts 2 and 3 is almost as large as the inner diameter of thecasing 1 the water which may be in the valve tends to stay in this spaceand to hold the valve up in its closed position. In many cases capillaryattraction alone is suflicient for this purpose, but by means of thisvalve the Water can be discharged and the entire valve be made tooperate properly.

I claim:

An air valve for radiators comprising a casing provided with an escapepassageway leading therefrom, a valve controlling said passageway, atube connected with said casmg, a portion extending across said tube andprovided with an opening, a valve controlling said opening, a pieceabove said portion extending across the tube at a distance below itsupper end and through which the stem of the valve passes, said latterpiece provided with an opening out of alinement with the valve opening.

FREDERICK H. TWEED, Witness;

EDNA K. REYNOLDS, MINNIE M. LINDENAU.

